


Festival

by Arsenic



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-09-11
Updated: 2006-09-11
Packaged: 2020-07-10 21:13:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19912285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arsenic/pseuds/Arsenic
Summary: Challenge: Minerva, Beijing





	Festival

**Author's Note:**

> Written for hpshortfics

Kingsley's missive said, _On the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, the moon is round and the Chinese people mark their Moon (or Mid-autumn) Festival. The round shape to the Chinese means family reunion. Therefore the Moon Festival is a holiday for members of a family to get together wherever it is possible._

It also said, _I copied that out of an encyclopedia, it sounded smarter than I did when I tried to paraphrase. Come see me. I'm far away from any sort of family._

Minerva should have remembered that Kingsley was sorted into Slytherin, and that everything he said, even things copied from books, had more than one meaning. She should have remembered, but fall was a busy time for the headmistress of the most prestigious magical academy in Europe. The message tickled her--Minerva had no family left. Grindlewald had killed her parents and she'd lost a lover to the first stirrings of Tom Riddle's madness. After that she hadn't much felt the need to try again. The school provided her with children and the Order with siblings, and that was enough for her.

Minerva sent back, _I'll need the Apparitive coordinates to your place._

*

Kingsley had been liaising with the Chinese Ministry ever since he'd let slip to Scrimgeour that he had a speaking knowledge of the language. He lived in Beijing most of the year with infrequent trips back for conferences or other professional reasons that kept him busy the whole time he was around.

He met Minerva at the Apparition spot, his smile wide and easy. She waited to regain her breath. Continent jumping at her age was never quite as quick or painless as it used to be.

He took her elbow. "Come on, we have moon cakes inside."

That simple statement brought up a million questions, but Minerva settled for asking, "We?"

They were at the door by this point, and it was not Kingsley who answered with an affirmative, "We."

It was Severus Snape.

*

Minerva stood in the doorway, unable to move any further inside. "Severus."

He looked different than the last time she had seen him. On the isles he had been hunted, even after she had unlocked the secrets of Albus' Pensieve and pardoned him. People did not forget their first impressions of a crime committed.

Here he was, well, not unfettered by his past. But his posture was straight and his eyes met hers. His hands were encased in hot pads and he was holding a tray of round, dough-y cakes. Minerva focused on them. "Moon cakes?"

Severus was slow to say, "You should try one."

"What exactly is a moon cake?"

"An example of Severus' brilliance," Kingsley said from the side, shocking them both with the reminder of his presence. "It's a kind of cookie with fillings of sugar, fat, sesame, walnut, the yoke of preserved eggs, whatever the hell Severus decides to put in, that sort of thing."

Minerva couldn't truthfully say that sounded appetizing in the least. Severus hadn't moved since he first saw her at the doorway. She took a cake and bit into it without betraying any hesitation. She blinked. "That's. . ."

Kingsley laughed. "Good, I know."

Severus threw Kingsley a dirty look, but there was something beneath it, something Minerva couldn't determine right away. She took another bite in order to think on it.

*

The moon rose heavy and full in the sky that evening. The three of them ate on the terrace, sharing small talk and political gossip. At some point Kingsley murmured, "I think we have some rice wine, I'll just-" and slipped away, leaving Minerva alone with Severus.

He said, "Kingsley said he wanted to invite some family up for the festival. He didn't say-"

"Would you have refused?"

"Would you have come if you knew I was here?"

Minerva wished they'd started on the rice wine earlier. "It wasn't me avoiding you, Severus. At least not once I knew."

The silence was strained, harsh, until he said, "You had to be told."

Minerva looked at him then, her gaze sharp, jagged even. "Of course, to know for sure."

His look at that was a bit flustered, which was gratifying. "Know for sure?"

"You think I spent endless days trying to crack Albus' complex, absolutely barmy protection spells for the sake of curiosity? Honestly, I have better things to be doing with my time, Severus."

"You-"

"Felt that something was out of place. You might not have so much as tolerated anyone else in that school, but you loved Albus. _Nobody_ is that good an actor."

"I fooled Voldemort."

"He had not the capacity to understand true loyalty."

Severus frowned a bit, thinking. "I tolerated you."

Minerva chuckled. "Glowing praise."

He scowled. "You know what I meant."

"Yes, Severus," she said, "I know."

When Kingsley reappeared shortly thereafter with the wine, Minerva asked, "What sort of Eavesdropping Spell was that? I couldn't feel a thing."

*

The next year when Kingsley's invitation to come around for the festival flew into her window, Minerva wrote back, _Tell Severus I'm expecting moon cakes._


End file.
